Source: Bravewords.com
Mastermind Arjen Lucassen has been hard at work for the past few months on the forthcoming new AYREON album, The Theory Of Everything. Ayreon albums are known for their array of guests, and Arjen recently launched a special online contest so that fans can guess the musicians that will be featured on the album.
A fan guessed correctly following a new teaser that YES keyboardist Rick Wakeman will appear on the album. Check out the clip below:
Lucassen previously revealed NIGHTWISH bassist/vocalist Marco Hietala, EMERSON, LAKE & PALMER keyboardist Keith Emerson, and GRAND MAGUS vocalist JB will appear on the album:
Lucassen also commented further on the new album: “It’s going to be a double album, so there is a lot to write! It’s extra challenging as well, because lyrically I’ve left the old Ayreon universe behind and have to create a new one from scratch. I’m really excited about the line-up and how everything is PROGressing so far. There is physics involved, but mainly it’s about human relationships and the emotional costs that come with treading the fine line between genius and madness.”
Swedish hard rock singer Mia Klose came from a musical family background and started creating her own music from an early age. Mia has played many well received live shows both in Sweden and England and the whole band sound has been compared to BON JOVI, SKID ROW, MOTLEY CRUE and the like. The band’s debut album “London” was released a year ago and they most recently played Sweden Rock Festival prior to their performance on the Jagermeister stage at this years Bloodstock. For more information check out Mia‘s official facebook page at this location.
Blackdiamond caught up with Mia later in the weekend to discuss how the band’s show went amongst many other topics, check out the conversation on the audio player below:
Veteran Los Angeles metallers ARMORED SAINT have commenced the songwriting process for the follow-up to 2010’s “La Raza” for a tentative late 2014 release via Metal Blade Records.
Speaking to Metal Assault earlier this month, ARMORED SAINT bassist Joey Vera stated about the band’s plans for the next CD: “We decided that we didn’t want to wait another ten years to make a new record [laughs], so we’re trying to work this out as a group. John [Bush, vocals] and I started working on some songs in February this year and I got a bunch of stuff that came out really quick and we wrote a few songs in February-March, but then I had to kind of put it on the back burner because I got involved with several mixing projects and then, of course, the FATES WARNING, which took up a lot of my time, learning the material and then obviously recording that. The FATES WARNING record is finally done and is coming out in the U.S. this fall, but John and I resumed writing in early July and we have a good chunk of songs now. We’ve got about five that are done, and another six that are almost finished. So we’ve just got to get back to it and our goal is to try and get this finished before 2018 [laughs]. In a perfect world, it would be great if we could have the album out by fall of 2014. It’s not set in stone yet, but that’s what we’re shooting for right now.”
Fan-filmed video footage of ARMORED SAINT‘s August 16 performance at Paladino’s in Reseda, California at a benefit show for drummer Dave Brown (ex-SOUND BARRIER, MASI, TOTAL ECLIPSE), who is battling cancer, can be seen below.
“La Raza” sold around 2,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at position No. 18 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200. “La Raza” also entered the German Media Control chart at No. 96 and the Canadian Independent chart at No. 85.
The classic first EP from ARMORED SAINT was reissued on August 13, 2012 in Europe via Metal Blade Records with bonus tracks and etching on vinyl.
Source: Bravewords.com Shreds of Insanity will take place at Carvin, Hollywood on Monday, August 26th at 5PM. This is a FREE event open to the public (all ages), and will be filmed by Century Media. The concept behind this event is to showcase the talents of these four young, up-and-coming guitarists in the metal genre.
–SAVAGE MESSIAH hails from London, England and is currently recording their third album with Scott Atkins (AMON AMARTH, BEHEMOTH, SYLOSIS) which is slated for an early 2014 release.
–WHITE WIZZARD released their third album, The Devil’s Cut, on June 25th, and just finished a west coast run in support of the album. Jake Dreyer has studied under Chris Broderick and David Shankle and has an instrumental EP titled, In The Shadows of Madness.
– STARKILL comes from Chicago, IL and is currently on tour with WINTERSUN, ARSIS, and FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE. Their debut album, Fires Of Life’, released April 30th, was produced by the band’s very own Parker Jameson and mastered by death metal legend, James Murphy (DEATH, TESTAMENT,OBITUARY). The album’s concept, both lyrically and musically, is overlain in medieval fantasy-themed battles, mythology, and destruction, well-suited for CHILDREN OF BODOM and AMON AMARTH fans alike.
–DEATH DIVISION recently returned home to Los Angeles from the Gigantour with MEGADETH and BLACK LABEL SOCIETY. Their first EP, MMXIII, is now available on iTunes. Rick DiMarco is the son of a blues guitarist and was heavily influenced by ‘80s guitar shredders such as PAUL GILBERT and YNGWIE MALMSTEEN.
Greek metallers FIREWIND, created by guitar virtuoso Gus G were formed back in 1998 but really hit the headlines with their fourth album release “Allegiance.” The band have had a very busy few years touring and recording and also Gus also plays guitar in Ozzy Osbourne‘s band.
FIREWIND released their latest album “Apotheosis – Live 2012, recently as a celebration of the band’s 10th anniversary. It also marked a new beginning with the departure of vocalist Apollo Papathanasio and the entrance of temporary (or maybe not?) vocalist Kelly Sundown Carpenter.
Blackdiamond caught up with keyboard player and guitarist Bob Katsionis following FIREWIND‘s storming show on Friday afternoon at Bloodstock 2013.
Read several excerpts from the conversation here and listen to the audio or watch the interview in full below (and see Bob recording a jingle for Blackdiamond’s Metal Mayhem!):
Discussing vocalist Kelly Sundown Carpenter, Bob expressed:
“He has good points and these become more and more and more, because he becomes one with the band, with the attitude we have, with the mentality. You know, it takes time.
Apollo, actually he was never into it, he was always losing it rather than adding to his performance. Maybe people couldn’t see it, but we try to evolve as a band. We want to make every gig have one more thing and Apollo was not doing this. It’s good that we see Kelly feeling comfortable in the band; his voice is there, he doesn’t lose the tone, he knows the lyrics. That’s what we need, he’s a cool guy.”
On latest release “Apotheosis – Live 2012” Bob said the following:
“First of all, it closes an era, this era with Apollo and the first ten years of the band. I think in the end it’s a very sincere and honest live album because we didn’t fool around with it in the studio. There are a lot of mistakes inside you know, but it is what it is. WE picked the best songs and made one CD as a present to our fans, it’s a very good ‘get to know the band’ CD, like a compilation. It’s definitely not a business move, just a cool thing to give back to our fans.”
Talking about upcoming plans for the band and also Bob’s own projects, he revealed:
“I know Gus is making his solo album but I cannot speak about it because he knows better. But we’re gonna be still around doing what we have to do and at some point we’re gonna start writing a new album, because there are some new ideas. But there is no rush this time, we take things easy.
OUTLOUD are making a new album. Actually at this moment George Kollias from NILE, he’s a good friend of mine, he’s recording the drums. Chandler in America, he’s recording the vocals, I go back and do some guitars. And there are big plans about this album, I’m very happy about it. I also started doing my fifth solo album – that’s going to be different; more piano and more new age stuff.”
AVENGED SEVENFOLD‘s new album, “Hail To The King”, is available for streaming in its entirety via iTunes.
Says AVENGED SEVENFOLD singer M. Shadows: “We have been waiting to show you all our brand new album, ‘Hail To The King’, for far too long. It took us nine months of writing, recording and preparation so that we could put out an album we are all proud of from start to finish.
“Well, I’m excited to announce that the wait is over. We have teamed up with our friends at iTunes to start streaming the full album right now until it’s released. The stream is high quality and you can listen to the whole album as many times as you’d like.
“So plug in your best set of headphones and turn it up to 10. Head over there now to listen and preorder. We hope you enjoy it as much as we do. See you all on the road!”
AVENGED SEVENFOLD‘s video for the song “Hail To The King” can be seen below. The clip was directed by Syndrome, an award-winning design and live-action directing studio.
“Hail To The King” will be released on August 27. The long-awaited follow-up to 2010’s “Nightmare” was once again produced by Mike Elizondo and is the first to be wholly written without drummer and key songwriter James “The Rev” Sullivan, who died in December 2009. Sullivan has since been replaced by Arin Ilejay, a former member of CONFIDE.
AVENGED SEVENFOLD has announced the “Hail To The King” tour — a massive headlining U.S. arena tour to take place this October and the band’s first full scale American tour since 2011. The run of dates will kick off in Chicago, Illinois on Thursday, October 3 and wrap up on October 26 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Supporting the band on all dates will be special guests DEFTONES and GHOST B.C.
“Hail To The King” track listing:
01. Shepherd Of Fire
02. Hail To The King
03. Doing Time
04. This Means War
05. Requiem
06. Crimson Day
07. Heretic
08. Coming Home
09. Planets
10. Acid Rain
AVENGED SEVENFOLD will celebrate the album release by playing a free show at the Hollywood Palladium on August 26.
“Hail To The King” lyrics:
Watch your tongue or have it cut from your head
Save your life by keeping whispers unsaid
Children roam the streets now orphans of war
Bodies hanging in the streets to adore
Royal flames will carve a path in chaos, bringing daylight to the night
Death is riding into town with armor, they’ve come to take all your rights
Hail to the King
Hail to the One
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun
Hail to the King
Hail, Hail, Hail the King
Blood is spilt while holding keys to the throne.
Born again but it’s too late to atone.
No mercy — from the edge of the blade
Dare escape and learn the price to be paid
Let the water flow with shades of red now, Arrows black out all the light
Death is riding into town with armor, they’ve come to grant you your rights
Hail to the King
Hail to the One
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun
Hail to the King
Hail, Hail, Hail the King
There’s a taste of fear
When the henchmen call
Iron fist to tame the land
Iron fist to claim it all
Hail to the King
Hail to the One
Kneel to the crown
Stand in the sun
Hail to the King
Hail, Hail, Hail the King
THE ROCK ALCHEMIST – Italian Rock Band from Turin with a strong sonic identity that blends modern rock with progressive, hard, alternative, and pop elements!
Kimmo Kuusniemi’s SARCOFAGUS return with a Historic 2010 Concert Video Premiere on YouTube! Click image to watch the video
